Just a few weeks ago “government efficiency” used to be the near-exclusive concern of a handful of experts, none of whom you would have ever heard of.

Enter Trump 2.0 and Elon Musk. Musk, alongside Vivek Ramaswamy, has been put in charge of DOGE, the new “Department of Government Efficiency”. 

The fact that DOGE was memed into existence on X is of course a perfect illustration of the times we live in.

While it remains to be seen how effective Musk’s efforts to take a wrecking ball to the U.S. administrative state will be, it would be a grave mistake to not take this seriously.

Notice also how rapidly the vibes have shifted. Many former government officials affiliated with Obama and Biden enthusiastically agree that something is rotten with U.S. government institutions and have offered their advice to DOGE.

Clearly, if you are not confused you are not paying attention. So we, alongside everyone else, are asking ourselves: what is going on here?

Few have thought more carefully about the rise, decay, and fall of political institutions than Francis Fukuyama, the renowned political scientist, Stanford professor, and author of The End of History and the Last Man.

That is why we are delighted that Prof. Fukuyama will be joining us for a conversation on Thursday, February 13, 7 - 8pm CET (online). 

We will hear his take on DOGE, discuss his advice to Trump and Musk, and explore how power, technology, and government institutions are shifting.

The event, which will be held in English, is open to all civil servants working in Switzerland.